Style Court

11.30.2013

Connecting Lines

Some more notes about the documentary that shows how Matisse's midcentury masterpiece, the Chapel at Vence, came to be: first, the film features archival footage of the artist at work on his paper cutouts. Another detail worth rewinding for is the pierced design of interior doors.

Reminds me again of Matisse's personal collection of North African haitis as well as the marble jalis Doris Duke commissioned in India in the 1930s. And speaking of Duke, the traveling exhibition about her masterpiece, Shangri La, is in its final weeks at The Nasher in Durham, North Carolina. It's especially interesting to see the global treasures she acquired temporarily set in Durham, with the region that made her family fortune as a backdrop. I visited before I became hooked on this new PBS series; otherwise I'd've attempted a detour to Kinston.